Circular 21/2021/TT-BTTTT amendments to Circular 24/2015/TT-BTTTT

• Official number: 21/2021/TT-BTTTT
• Legislation Type: Circular
• Organization: The Ministry Of Information And Transmitation
• Signer: Nguyen Manh Hung
• Issued Date: 08/12/2021

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS --------	SOCIAL LIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Independence – Freedom – Happiness ---------------
No. 21/2021/TT-BTTTT	Hanoi, December 8, 2021

CIRCULAR

AMENDMENTS TO CIRCULAR NO. 24/2015/TT-BTTTT DATED AUGUST 18, 2015 OF THE MINISTER OF THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS ON MANAGEMENT AND USE OF INTERNET RESOURCES

Pursuant to the Law on Telecommunications dated November 23, 2009;

Pursuant to the Law on Information Technology dated June 29, 2006;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 72/2013/ND-CP dated July 15, 2013 on management, provision, use of internet services, and online information and the Government’s Decree No. 27/2018/ND-CP dated March 1, 2018 on Amendments to Decree No. 72/2013/ND-CP and Decree No. 150/2018/ND-CP dated November 7, 2018 of the Government on Amendments to a number of decrees on investment conditions and financial procedures in the field of information and communications;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 17/2017/ND-CP dated February 17, 2017 on functions, duties, entitlements, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Information and Communications;

The Ministry of Information and Communications promulgates the Circular on Amendments to Circular No. 24/2015/TT-BTTTT dated August 18, 2015 of the Minister of the Ministry of Information and Communications on management and use of internet resources.

Article 1. Amendments to Circular No. 24/2015/TT-BTTTT dated August 18, 2015 of the Minister of the Ministry of Information and Communications on management and use of internet resources (amended in Circular No. 06/2019/TT-BTTTT dated July 19, 2019 of the Minister of the Ministry of Information and Communications on Amendments to Circular No. 24/2015/TT-BTTTT dated August 18, 2015 of the Minister of the Ministry of Information and Communications on management and use of internet resources) are as follows:

...

...

...

“15. “IP address member” means an agency, organization or enterprise that receives IP addresses assigned or distributed by the Ministry of Information and Communications (Vietnam Internet Network Information Center).

16. “Domain name suspension” means an application of a necessary technical method to suspend the operation of a domain on the internet or prevent access to a violating information source for a period of time. This method is applied in order to serve the violation handling and management of internet resources.

17. “Domain name revocation” means an application of a necessary technical method to revoke the right to use the domain name of an applicant. This method is applied in order to serve the violation handling and management of internet resources.

18. “Maintenance of status quo of registration and use of domain names” means an application of a necessary method to prevent the change of applicant or domain name registrar. This method is applied in order to handle violation and resolve domain name disputes.”

2. Clause 6 of Article 3 is added as follows:

“6. If an individual applicant is a citizen of Vietnam from 18 to 23 years old, he/she shall receive support for registration of third-level domain names under ".id.vn". If an organization applicant is a newly founded enterprise or business household shall be prioritized and receive support for registration of third-level under “.biz.vn”.”

3. Clause 9 and Clause 10 of Article 4 are added as follows:

“9. Perform the duty of an organization that manages the country code top-level domain (Registry) in providing registration services and maintenance of “.vn” domain names.

10. In case there is no participation of an enterprise as the ".vn" domain registrar, provide registration services and maintenance of “.vn” domain names to ensure the benefits of the applicant and the requirement of management and development of “.vn” domain names.”

...

...

...

“Chapter II: REGISTRATION AND USE OF DOMAIN NAME UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF VIETNAM”

5. Amendments to Article 5 are as follows:

a) Replace the phrase “unaccented” with “.vn” in Clauses 2, 3, 5, and 6.

b) Amendments to Point m Clause 3 are as follows:

“m) NAME.VN particularly designed for organizations or individuals applying for registration of the full name, abbreviated name, commercial name, alias name, etc;”

c) Amendments to Points n; and Points o, p, q of Clause 3 are added as follows:

“n) ID.VN particularly designed for individuals who are citizens of Vietnam applying for registration of images, products, personal brands use on the internet;

o) IO.VN particularly designed for organizations or individuals applying for registration of technology applications, platforms, services use on the internet;

p) AI.VN particularly designed for organizations or individuals applying for registration of activities, services involved in the field of artificial intelligence;

...

...

...

a) Amendments to Clause 4 are as follows:

“4. Generic secondary-level domain names classified by administrative boundaries refer to the domain names named after unaccented or accented names of centrally affiliated cities or provinces and commonly used by and not allocated particularly to organizations or individuals (such as hanoi.vn, haiphong.vn, etc.).”

dd) Remove Clause 7.

6. Amendments to Article 6 are as follows:

a) Amendment to Article 6 is as follows: 

“Article 6. Domain name registration”

b) Amendments to Clause 2 are as follows:

“2. Domain names shall be optionally selected by organizations or individuals to serve the purpose of registration, but must meet the following requirements:

a) Must not contain words or phrases intruding upon the national sovereignty, interest and security, or violating social ethics, fine traditional customs and values;

...

...

...

c) Must not use the name of Communist Party Organizations, state agencies, or socio-political organizations (such as the Vietnamese Fatherland Front; Vietnam Trade Union; Vietnam Farmer's Union; Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union; Vietnam Women’s Union; Vietnam Veterans Association, etc.) for uninvolved organizations or individuals;

d) Must not register to use domain names related to the country’s security, defense, and diplomatic activities for uninvolved organizations or individuals;

dd) There must be at least one or a sequence of characters under the top-level domain name “.vn”. Such sequence may contain characters from a to z; 0 to 9; Vietnamese characters and characters that are accepted by the domain name server regardless of upper or lower case. Such sequence may contain a hyphen but must not begin or end with it, and must not have two consecutive hyphens in the domain name. Each level must not have more than 63 characters (for Vietnamese domain names, the number of characters is determined according to their length after being converted to an unaccented ASCII string);

e) Must not violate regulations prescribed in Clause 1 Article 23b of the Government’s Decree No. 72/2013/ND-CP dated July 15, 2013 on management, provision, use of internet services, and online information amended by the Government’s Decree No. 27/2018/ND-CP dated March 1, 2018 on Amendments to Decree No. 72/2013/ND-CP on management, provision, use of internet services, and online information;

g) Must not contain confusing phrases indicating that it is a general website or social network when its applicant is not regulated to be issued a license to set up general websites or a license to set up a social network in accordance with the law."

7. Amendments to Clause 2 Article 8 are as follows:

“2. Communist Party Organizations; socio-political organizations prescribed in Point c Clause 1 of this Article; state agencies prescribed in Clause 1 Article 13 shall be responsible for filling application for related domain registration and reservation prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article to the Ministry of Information and Communications (Vietnam Internet Network Information Center).”

8. Amendments to Clause 3, Clause 6, Clause 7 Article 10 are as follows:

a) Amendments to Clause 3 are as follows:

...

...

...

a) Organizations or individuals shall submit online applications for domain registration, registration information change, and domain return through online domain name registration and management tools of the ".vn" domain name registrar.

Applicants are verified by their digital signatures in the application or through technology solutions to collect, inspect, compare, ensure the completeness and match between the information of customers and the information, data of electronic records. The domain name “.vn” registrar shall have the responsibility for verifying applicants' information and ensuring the completeness and accuracy of applications for domain registration.

Applications for change of applicants’ information or domain return must use the digital signatures of the applicants.

b) Applications are submitted directly at offices of the ".vn" domain name registrar or sent to offices of the ".vn" domain name registrar if online methods are unavailable.

Individuals who are applicants apply for domain registration, registration information change, or domain return, are required to present ID cards (or passports, if individuals are foreigners). If applications are sent by post, attach the certified true copy of the mentioned documents of applicants.

c) ".vn“ domain registrars back up and transfer the electronic records to the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center; adopt measures to protect, back up the data, records for centralized management and assurance of records, domain data.”

b) Amendments to Clause 6 are as follows:

“6. Change made to the name of applicants may only be allowed in the following situations:

a) An organization is renamed under the decision issued by a competent authority;

...

...

...

c) The restructuring of an enterprise in accordance with the Law on Enterprises or the activities of buying or selling enterprises, contributing capital or shares between enterprises, or changing functions or duties between the parent company and its subsidiary; leading to the name change of the applicant;

d) An individual who changes his/her family name or given name according to decisions of state authorities.”

c) Amendments to Clause 7 are as follows:

“7. If applicants wish to change their name according to regulations prescribed in Clause 6 of this Article, in addition to submitting the request form for change made to domain registration information, applicants must submit a certified true copy or copy (with the original attached for comparison) of the decision of the state authority or document stating that the enterprise is restructured according to the Law on Enterprises, and other documents evidencing the legitimate change in the right to use the domain name.”

9. Amendments to Article 11 are as follow:

a) Amendment to Article 11 is as follows:

“Article 11. Bases and procedures for temporary suspension of domain operation”

b) Amendments to Clause 1 are as follows:

“1. Bases for temporary suspension of domain operation:

...

...

...

b) A decision to apply measures to prevent and ensure financial violation handling of the agency competent to handle information and communication violations when performing the activities of inspection, violation handling; or cooperation with inspectors of other Ministries or departments competent to promptly prevent information and communication violations in accordance with the law;

c) Expired “.vn” domain in accordance with regulations which its applicant has not paid the maintenance fee;

d) Cases where an applicant of a domain is unidentified; a domain name has incorrect registration information; or cases where an applicant fails to cooperate in handling requests related to domain registration and use from state authorities of information and communications.”

c) Amendments to Clause 2 are as follows:

“2. As for cases stated in Points a and b Clause 1 of this Article:

a) The time period of domain suspension is specified in the decision to apply measures to prevent and ensure financial violation handling or in the written request for domain suspension of competent agencies;

b) Within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the written request or decision made by competent agencies, the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center shall carry out the temporary suspension of domain operations through requests sent to the national domain server system; concurrently, request ".vn" domain registrars to send the written notification of temporary suspension to related agencies, organizations or individuals within 3 (three) working days from the date on which the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center issues the notification of temporary suspension of domain operations;

c) Within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the written request or decision made by competent agencies, international domain registrars in Vietnam shall carry out the requested suspension of domain operations; concurrently, send the written notification of temporary suspension to related agencies, organizations, or individuals.”

d) Amendments to Clause 3 are as follows:

...

...

...

a) The domain shall be automatically suspended from the expiration date. The Vietnam Internet Network Information Center shall carry out the temporary suspension of domain operations on the national domain server system.

b) Within 25 days from the date on which the temporary suspension of domain operations starts, if applicants pay the domain maintenance fee in accordance with regulations, they shall be allowed to continue using registered domain names.  

dd) Amendments to Clause 4 are as follows:

“4. As for cases stated in Point d Clause 1 of this Article:

a) After 15 days from the date on which competent agencies of information and communications, the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center, or registrars request the applicant for domain registration to update or supplement information that the applicant fails to provide, the domain name shall be suspended for 30 days.  The registrar shall send a notification of domain name suspension to the applicant for domain registration within 3 working days from the date of suspension;

b) Within 30 days from the date of suspension, if the applicant for domain registration updates, supplements or completes the registration information, the suspension shall be removed.”

e) Clause 5 is added as follows:

“5. After the suspension time period, the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center, international domain registrars in Vietnam shall put the suspended domain back into operation if it does not fall within the cases that must be revoked prescribed in Article 12 of this Circular.”

10. Amendments to Article 12 are as follows:

...

...

...

“Article 12. Procedures for domain revocation"

b) Amendments to Points a, dd, e, g Clause 1 are as follows:

“a) The successful conciliation document in accordance with the law on conciliation; the decision or judgment issued by the arbitration in accordance with the law on arbitration or the judgment, decision that has taken legal effect of the court during the process of resolving domain name disputes, serves as the basis;”

 “dd) After 25 days from the date on which the domain is suspended prescribed in Point a Clause 3 Article 11 of this Circular, applicants have not paid the domain maintenance fee in accordance with regulations;"

 “e) The domain name fails to satisfy the requirements specified in Clause 2 of Article 6; fails to comply with regulations on domain protection specified in Article 8 or after 30 days after the date on which the domain name is suspended, the applicant is still unidentified; the domain name with incorrect registration information specified in Point d Clause 1 Article 11 of this Circular which its applicant fails to supplement, update, or complete the registration information;”

“g) In some other cases in accordance with the Government’s regulations.”

c) Amendments to Clause 2 are as follows:

“2. In case of receiving the written request of competent agencies for domain revocation prescribed in Points a, b, c, d Clause 1; and in case where domain names are revoked as prescribed in Point e Clause 1 of this Article:

a) Within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the written request for “.vn” domain revocation, the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center shall carry out the suspension and revocation of “.vn” domain operations. ".vn" domain registrars send the written notification of temporary suspension to the domain applicant within 3 (three) working days from the date on which the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center issues the notification of temporary suspension of “.vn” domain operations;

...

...

...

d) Amendments to Clause 4 are as follows:

“4. As for cases stated in Point dd Clause 1 of this Article:

a) The Vietnam Internet Network Information Center shall carry out the suspension and revocation of domain operations on the national domain server system and send notification of revocation to “.vn” domain registrars. “.vn” domain registrars send the notification of revocation to related agencies, organizations, individuals within 5 working days from the date on which the domain name is revoked.”

dd) Amendments to Clause 5 are as follows:

“5. Within 15 days from the date on which the “.vn” domain is revoked, if revoked domain names do not fall within the cases where they are in breach of regulations on domain registration prescribed in Article 6 of this Circular, the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center shall restore revoked domain names to the available status.”

11. Amendments to Clause 1 Article 13 are as follows:

“1. Entities eligible for registration and use of lower-level domain names under “.gov.vn” domain names shall include:

a) Central and local state agencies stipulated in Laws on Organization of the National Assembly; Government Organization; Organizing the Local Government; Organization of People’s Court; Organization of People’s Procuracy, or the Government's Decrees;

b) Units that carry out the state function and management affiliated to the organizational structure of ministries, ministerial agencies, Government’s agencies prescribed in Decrees on the function, duty, entitlement, and organizational of the Ministry, ministerial agency, Government’s agency.”

...

...

...

“Article 14. “.vn” lookup system

1. “.vn” lookup system (Whois VN) is the system developed and managed by the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center to serve the purpose of publicly and electronically providing information about “.vn” domain names.

2. Information about “.vn” domain names on the Whois VN system includes:

a) Domain names;

b) Registration date, expiry date;

c) Names of agencies, organizations, or full names of individuals;

d) Domain name registrars in charge of managing domain names;

dd) Information about transferring domain name server;

e) Status of domain names;

...

...

...

3. Information prescribed in Points a, b, c , d, dd, e Clause 2 of this Article shall be publicly provided on the internet."

13. Amendments to Clause 1 Article 15 are as follows:

 “1. Transfer to other ".vn" domain registrars shall be carried out when there is an agreement between the current registrar and the new registrar requested by the applicant. Upon receiving the request of the applicant, the registrar that is currently managing the domain name shall fully perform the procedures for registrar transfer and shall not obstruct when the applicant has already fulfilled the duties in the agreement on registration and maintenance of the “.vn” domain with the registrar. If the request is rejected, the registrar shall respond and provide a specific explanation in writing.”

14. Amendments to Article 16 are as follows:

“Article 16. Management of “.vn” domain names during the dispute resolution process

1. The Vietnam Internet Network Information Center or “.vn” domain registrar shall maintain the status quo of registration and use of domain names according to the written request made by agencies or organizations competent to resolve disputes in accordance with legal regulations.

2. The Vietnam Internet Network Information Center shall consider proper solutions in accordance with the law when there are written requests for maintenance of the status quo registration and use of domain names from parties involved in disputes.

3. With regard to the domain names with maintained status quo registration and use, the acts of changing the applicant’s name, transferring the registrar, transferring the use right, revoking the domain name, are forbidden.

4. If the plaintiff is allowed to apply for registration of domain names that are in dispute and revoked as defined in the successful conciliation record, the arbitration’s decision, adjudication, or the court’s decision, judgment, the plaintiff shall be given priority to register such domain names within a permitted period of 45 days from the date on which these records, decisions, adjudications, judgments come into force. After this period, such domain names shall be available for registration.

...

...

...

15. Amendments to Clause 1 Article 20 are as follows:

“1. Notification time: After organizations or individuals have registered the international domain name.”

16. Amendments to Article 22 are as follows:

Amendments to Clause 1 are as follows:

“1. Any agency, organization or enterprise wishing to set up Internet connection network is entitled to request for assignment and distribution of IP address (the use of IPv6 address is encouraged) for internal use or reassignment of IP address to clients connected to the server of such agency, organization or enterprise (in the case where it is entitled to provide Internet services) and to apply for change of the applicant’s name of IP address in the following cases:

a) An agency or organization is renamed under the decision issued by a competent authority;

b) The full division, partial division, merger, consolidation or change of functions and tasks of an agency or organization under the decision issued by a competent authority results in change of management and operation of networks and services currently using IP address zones;

c) The restructuring of an enterprise in accordance with the Law on Enterprises or the activities of buying or selling enterprises, contributing capital or shares between enterprises, or changing functions or duties between the parent company and its subsidiary; resulting in change of management and operation of networks and services currently using IP address zones;

b) Remove Point c Clause 5.

...

...

...

“Article 23. Assignment, distribution of IP address

1. Entities that are entitled to request for assignment, distribution of IP address:

a) Agencies, organizations, or enterprises that wish to set up internet connection is entitled to request for assignment and distribution of IP address in accordance with regulations prescribed in Clause 1 Article 22 of this Circular;

b) Agencies, organizations, or enterprises that wish to request for assignment and redistribution of IPv4 address from returned or revoked IPv4 address zones which have been listed by the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center, shall satisfy the requirements prescribed in Clause 2 Article 24 of this Circular;

c) Agencies, organizations, or enterprises that change the applicant's name of the IP address in cases prescribed in Points a, b, c Clause 1 Article 22 of this Circular.

2. Methods of filing application:

Agencies, organizations, or enterprises file an application on dichvucong.mic.gov.vn or dichvucong.gov.vn.

If online methods are unavailable, agencies, organizations, or enterprises submit their application directly or by post to the Ministry of Information and Communications (Vietnam Internet Network Information Center), address: VNTA building, Duong Dinh Nghe street, Cau Giay district, Hanoi.

3. An application includes:

...

...

...

b) Certified true copy or copy (with the original attached for comparison) of the establishment decision or other valid certificates issued before the effective date of the Law on Enterprises 2014 (if there is no enterprise ID);

c) Certified true copy or copy (with the original attached for comparison) of the decision of the competent authority or document stating the enterprise is restructured under the Law on Enterprises and documents proving the legitimate change of the right to use IP addresses (for applicant’s name change cases).

4. If agencies, organizations, or enterprises wish to concurrently request for assignment of IP address and autonomous system number (hereinafter referred to as ASN), file an application prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article.

5. Within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the full and valid application, fees, and charges, the Ministry of Information and Communications (Vietnam Internet Network Information Center) shall distribute IP addresses to agencies, organizations, or enterprises according to the form prescribed in Appendix 10a promulgated with this Circular. If the application is rejected, respond and provide explanations in writing.”

18. Amendments to Clause 3 Article 24 are as follows:

“3. When there is any revoked or returned IPv4 address zones of agencies, organizations or enterprises:

a) The Vietnam Internet Network Information Center shall post information about such zones and time of receipt of application for assignment and redistribution of IP address zones on www.diachiip.vn;

b) Receipt and processing of application for assignment and distribution of IP address shall comply with principles stated in Clause 2 of this Article and in accordance with procedures prescribed in Article 23 of this Circular.”

19. Amendments to Clause 1 Article 25 are as follows:

...

...

...

a) An agency or organization is renamed under the decision issued by a competent authority;

b) The full division, partial division, merger, consolidation or change of functions and tasks of an agency or organization under the decision issued by a competent authority results in change of management and operation of networks and services currently using ASN;

c) The restructuring of an enterprise in accordance with the Law on Enterprises or the activities of buying or selling enterprises, contributing capital or shares between enterprises, or changing functions or duties between the parent company and its subsidiary; resulting in change of management and operation of networks and services currently using ASN;

20. Amendments to Article 26 are as follows:

“Article 26. Procedures for assignment and distribution of ASN

1. Entities that are entitled to request for assignment, distribution of ASN:

a) Any agency, organization, or enterprise which has obtained IP address from the Ministry of Information and Communications (Vietnam Internet Network Information Center) is entitled to request for assignment and distribution of ASN as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 25 of this Circular;

b) Any agency, organization, or enterprise which has obtained IP address from the Ministry of Information and Communications (Vietnam Internet Network Information Center) is entitled to request for the change of name of the ASN applicant in cases prescribed in Points a, b, c Clause 1 Article 25 of this Circular.

2. Agencies, organizations, or enterprises shall file an application as prescribed in Clause 2 Article 23 of this Circular.

...

...

...

a) “ASN registration form” according to the form stipulated in Appendix 11 promulgated with this Circular;

b) Certified true copy or copy (with the original attached for comparison) of the decision of the competent authority or document stating the enterprise is restructured under the Law on Enterprises and documents proving the legitimate change of the right to use ASN (for applicant’s name change cases).

4. Within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the full and valid application, the Ministry of Information and Communications (Vietnam Internet Network Information Center) shall assign and distribute ASN to agencies, organizations, or enterprises according to the form prescribed in Appendix 11a promulgated with this Circular. If the application is rejected, respond and provide explanations in writing.”

21. Amendments to Clause 4, Clause 6 Article 28 are as follows:

Amendments to Clause 4 are as follows:

 “4. IP addresses or ASN that fall within cases prescribed in Clause 3 Article 22 and Clause 4 Article 25 of this Circular. Cases where the applicant of an IP address or ASN is unidentified due to impersonation or inaccurate registration information.”

b) Amendments to Clause 6 are as follows:

 “6. With regard to the case in which IP addresses, ASN are revoked as stipulated in Clause 1 through Clause 5 of this Article, the Ministry of Information and Communications (Vietnam Internet Network Information Center) shall revoke IP addresses and ASN; send a notification to involved agencies, organizations or enterprises. If IP addresses subject to revocation fall within IP address zones already issued to clients by internet service providers, these internet service providers shall be responsible for carrying out revocation of such IP address zones.”

22. Amendments to Clause 5 Article 29 are as follows:

...

...

...

23. Article 29a is added after Article 29 as follows:

 “Article 29a. Vietnam IP address and ASN lookup system.

1. Vietnam IP address and ASN lookup system (Whois IP/ASN) is a system developed and managed by the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center to serve the purpose of publicly and electronically providing information about Vietnam IP address, ASN, and applicants.

2. Information about Vietnam IP address, ASN on Whois IP/ASN system includes:

a) IP addresses, ASN;

b) Names of agencies, organizations;

c) Network names of agencies, organizations;

d) Status of IP addresses, ASN, and other information that serves the operation management of Vietnam IP addresses and ASN.

3. Information prescribed in Points a, b, c Clause 2 of this Article is publicly provided on the internet; other information is provided according to specific subject groups in accordance with the law to serve the operation management of IP addresses and ASN.”

...

...

...

a) Replace Appendix 3.

a) Replace Appendix 10.

c) Add Appendix 10a after Appendix 10.

d) Replace Appendix 11.

dd) Add Appendix 11a after Appendix 11.

Article 2. Entry into force

1. This Circular comes into force as of February 7, 2022

2. Within 1 year from the date on which this Circular comes into force, with regard to ".vn" domain names that have been registered before this Circular comes into force, “.vn” registrars shall complete the backup and transfer electronic records to the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center.

3. Circular No. 06/2019/TT-BTTTT dated July 19, 2019 of the Minister of the Ministry of Information and Communications on Amendments to Circular No. 24/2015/TT-BTTTT dated August 18, 2015 of the Minister of the Ministry of Information and Communications on management and use of internet resources shall expire when this Circular comes into force.

...

...

...

MINISTER




Nguyen Manh Hung